Apotheosis
by lampoon
Summary: AU. If only one could live, which would you save? The burning man, or the drowning man? SasuSaku . ItaSaku .


_**Apotheosis **_

He turned on his side in hopes of finally catching some sleep. Sigh. It was just impossible for him now, wasn't it? In the morning, he would have to listen to Naruto's obnoxious voice, and ugh… Sasuke groaned just thinking about it. This wasn't about to go away anytime soon, but if he didn't do something about it now…

Switching the lights on, the raven-haired man slowly got up and walked to the bathroom. He reached inside his cabinets, taking out a red bottle filled with a familiar white liquid. In his head, he could hear his brother chuckling.

'_Up for a midnight bottle of milk, are we little brother_?'

'_Shut it. This is your fault anyways…' _Heaving the white liquid down in one gulp, Sasuke placed it back on the shelf. "That was my last…" This was definitely turning into a problem, if he didn't find her or get some new _medicine_ things would get bloody. He realized that sleep wasn't about to come anytime soon, this was probably a perfect opportunity to give Itachi some time out.

'_Better now than never… might as well let you enjoy yourself so you don't get into a big hissy fit later…_'

'_How generous._'

Slowly, a feeling of sinking deeper into the water came over him. He arrived in a dark room in what he knew to be his mind, a.k.a. where Itachi spent most of his time. As Itachi was now the one in control, Sasuke lay down and relaxed. _'I should enjoy this peace while I can…_'

The red-eyed mangekyou user would get bored of the outside world soon, and Sasuke would have to go back out to take care of all the daily tasks which his brother deemed below him or too mundane for him to do. Not that he minded particularly, this had been their situation for more than three-hundred years now…

'_Urg. Don't take a trip down memory lane; I'm not in the mood_.'

'_Shut it, Itachi and leave me alone…_'

'_Yes, yes… ahh… I've found someone fun to play with._'

Sasuke could feel that Itachi had left to go and enjoy his night on the town. It was weird, they shared the same body, the same thoughts, but Sasuke would never quite understand his older brother. His thoughts shifted again to the pulse thrumming through his body.

"We both know she's here, don't we Itachi…?" There was no response from his brother.

Each of them dealt with their yearning for her in different ways, Itachi hunted humans for pleasure, sometimes even taking assassination missions when they needed money. Sasuke usually tried to keep it bottled inside of him, but occasionally he would train to forget himself or when he was especially desperate, seek _companionship_ per se.

Itachi found that habit especially disgusting, but he tolerated it. They both knew why.

She was getting stronger and their medicine, which usually numbed down her presence, was weakening. Not that it mattered now; Sasuke had used the last bottle that day.

The great thing about having two people share the same body is that when Sasuke couldn't stand it anymore, Itachi could take control. When either one of them was trapped in the mind, they felt more at peace. Faintly, he heard a shrieking in the distance. Sasuke stood up and paced around looking to the very front of the black room.

There he looked through his brother's eyes and barely caught sight of a female fall to the ground. Itachi was getting more ruthless and less careful, that wasn't good. Sighing, Sasuke fell to the ground dramatically, '_We need to find you…_'

Time was running out for all of them.

**x (--) x**

"Yo!! Bastard one and two, get _up_!" Groaning, Sasuke rose from his bed to take in the sight of his orange-clad friend.

_Tell me why you don't kill him again…? _Itachi whispered quietly in the recesses of their mind.

_He's my friend. Something_ you_ wouldn't understand. _

"Sasuke, stop spacing out all the time like a freak! Jeez. I know you talk to him, but do you have to look so stupid while doing it?"

"I'll never manage to look quite as stupid as you, dobe."

_Nice. _

The blonde boy spluttered angrily for a few seconds before grinning again, insult forgotten. "Hey, I managed to drag Kakashi-sensei's ass out today. We're having lunch at Ichiraku's at twelve. Don't be late bastard, or I'll have to buy you a watch for your birthday." Then the blonde blur was gone, leaving an irritated two-being inhabited vessel in his wake.

_Looks like we'll be having ramen for lunch, aniki. _

Ignoring his brother's silence, Sasuke got up and dressed, pulling on a navy blue t-shirt, and some pants. It was too early in the morning for him to function properly; he _was_ a night being after all. Just as he was reaching for a cup, something passed over him. Without warning, another attack came. His throat closed as he tried to gulp in big mouthfuls of air, his lungs seemed to contract painfully, and his heart squeezed painfully in his chest. Sasuke fell pitifully to the floor.

The onyx-eyed male coughed loudly, splattering his floorboards with a trace of blood. He gripped at his head, which was suddenly splitting apart. Red seeped into his eyes-

_Oh god no no no need her need her save me find her I need her need her_ –

And as soon as it had come, it was over; as if it had never been there in the first place, save the man clutching his head and the blood on the floor.

_Shit. _

_Are you okay?_ A rare concern touched his brother's voice. If anything, Sasuke could always say that his brother had always looked out for him.

_Fine. _But they both knew they were not.

Gradually, time had run out.

**x (--) x**

Truth be told, he really didn't want to sit through another tedious lunch with Naruto today, but he had no choice. Naruto would be expecting him, and if he didn't show up, there was sure to be trouble later, plus he would get to see Kakashi again. The silver-haired teacher hadn't been around recently, and Itachi was finding it somewhat boring without a presence other than himself and Naruto to interact with.

_I wonder if he would be interested in playing a fun game of shogi_.

Sasuke suppressed a shiver at his brother's sadistic tendencies, playing shogi with Kakashi usually involved two very silent men glaring at a wooden board like it was God while trying to take each other down the most efficient and bloody way. Itachi usually won, but Kakashi was better than no one.

_Brother, stop imaging such bloody things… you're giving me a headache_.

_I apologize little brother; my mind seemed to have drifted towards more… distracting venues_.

This time, he didn't bother to hold back the shiver.

_All homicidal tendencies aside… we've exhausted all of our last options, Sasuke_.

His back stiffened automatically at the serious topic they were broaching.

_Yes. I know_.

They both knew.

Sighing as he approached the stand, Sasuke pushed all serious thoughts aside. It was best not to let Naruto know quite yet, after all, he still had_ some_ hope. Besides, they'd never hear the end of it. Against his will, the corner of Sasuke's mouth lifted into what could be called a smile (if you squinted really, really hard and tilted your head).

_Might as well enjoy ourselves_.

**x (--) x**

Naruto was sitting in the center stood, Kakashi on his left. The older man waved slightly in his own way and greeted them casually, "Yo." Sasuke waved back while casting a disgusted look to Naruto, who was currently on his third bowl.

"I see you didn't bother to wait for me," Naruto shrugged, not replying to Sasuke's well-concealed barb, "Kakashi, Itachi wants another shogi match."

Kakashi's eyes crinkled, indicating an unseen smile, "Of course, those are always… _enjoyable_."

Sasuke grimaced and wondered silently what his old teacher did in his spare time, _never mind, I do not want to know_.

_Really? Might be interesting._

_Psh. I bet he just reads that Icha-Icha-crap._

While Naruto moved onto his fourth bowl, Sasuke attempted to engage Kakashi in a conversation.

"Haven't seen you in a while."

The man laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, "oh, I've actually been busy running errands for Tsunade-sama."

At that, the kyuubi-container lifted his head. "Granny Tsunade?"

"Yeah. She's got a new student, you should drop by sometime, she'd love to see you again."

"Really? Are you sure she's not too drunk to even realize I'm there?"

"Hah. I'm sure she'd love to hear that from you, besides, you should come meet Sakura-chan, and she's really quite nice. Really smart too, she's trying to learn medicine like her mentor. Why don't you guys stop in at lunch time by her office tomorrow?"

"No thank-"

"Sure! We'll go, right bastards one and two?"

"Naruto, I don't hav-"

Kakashi smiled knowingly. "I'll see you both tomorrow then, around lunch." And he walked away.

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek to keep from pummeling Naruto into the ground. He did not want to go have lunch with an old drunkard and her annoying student who would probably fawn over him like all the other women he'd known in his life. Sighing, he got up and left as well, leaving his friend behind with six bowls on unpaid-for ramen in his wake.

Clutching his throat again, Sasuke realized he needed a release.

_Aniki._

_Of course, I'll be sure to have fun_.

Sasuke welcomed the darkness with open arms.

**x (--) x**

Tiredly, he watched as Itachi cut down another human. Even now, after being together for so long, Sasuke could not fathom why his brother enjoyed killing weak humans. He could understand training himself to the brink of exhaustion, just so he would be too damn tired to think of anything else (especially her), and the same thing applied to sex, but killing people?

Red was a somewhat pretty color, yes, and he knew it was Itachi's favorite color, but the annoying screams of his victims grated his nerves after a while. Seeing them fall down with a hallow-sounding thump was not quite as amusing as Itachi thought it was either, but he supposed he would have to make due. It was his brother after all, and Sasuke wasn't going to take away his only release.

Inhaling deeply through his nose, (well, what he imagined was his nose sine he actually had no body in his control right now) he watched with a somewhat clinical detachment as Itachi got rid of her body. _It's almost morning Itachi_. There was no reply from his brother, who was too immersed in his activities to answer. _Oi_. His brother didn't seem to notice him anymore.

Sigh. It was going to be a while before Itachi was done.

**x (--) x**

When it was finally ten o'clock in the morning, Sasuke had dragged their bloodied body back to their apartment, escaping the notice of multiple humans. It was one of his _talents_. He took a long shower, trying to ignore the world around him. Inside his head, Itachi was relaxing, imaging peaceful scenes in far-away lives they had led. Even under conditions such as these, they could still not relax.

Not until they found her. It didn't help that they had a constant, painful _need_ for her to be around them, but the fact that they would probably be reduced to a pathetic, sniveling mess if they didn't find her quick enough was constantly hanging over their heads. Neither of them relished that thought.

What didn't help was that they had no idea who she was, they had never met her before, seen her; breathed her. But they knew they needed her. As far as unbreakable bonds went, theirs was pretty strong. Something tied the very fiber of their souls to her, something…

Shaking his head, Sasuke stepped out from the shower. Thinking of her greatly irritated the male.

How did anyone expect them to find someone if they had no idea who they were?

Growling almost inaudibly, he grabbed a shirt and threw on another pair of pants. Might as well head down to Tsunade's now, Naruto would probably be there anyways. Stupid blonde loudmouth…

**x (--) x**

"Sakura, this is Naruto. He's the idiot student of Kakashi."

"Uhm, hello, Naruto-san."

"No need to be so formal, Sakura-chan!" Sakura twitched a little at being addressed so intimately, but brushed it off and tried her best to smile back, "Call me Naruto."

"Ok… Naruto."

Naruto flashed her a wide grin, and Sakura couldn't contain her own smile. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad, she mused silently. The blonde male turned to face her shishou and frowned, "Still drinking out of the bottle Granny? Aren't you getting a little old for this?" The vein in Tsunade's forehead twitched, but before the older woman could react, Naruto was meters away, a big bump coming out the top of her head. Sakura stared, wide-eyed, at what she did. Holding up her two hands in an embarrassed gesture, she laughed uneasily. "Sorry… it was like a reflex."

From the other side of the room, a quiet "S-Sakura-chan," was heard. Tsunade barely suppressed a smile.

"We actually have one more guest." Kakashi managed to say between smiling.

The pink-haired medic only offered a curious 'oh?' before moving forward to check on Naruto, who seemed to be ok, other than the shock of being punched by a girl half his size. As if on cue, the doorknob to the office turned and in stepped a handsome, dark-haired boy who stared curiously at Naruto's battered form before shifting his attention to her.

He froze, and Sakura stared up at him, confused. His eyes, solely focused on her, burned with an intensity that seemed to pause the world around her. She inhaled sharply.

**x (--) x**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**x (--) x**

* * *

**(A/N): What do you think? I'd love to know. Comments are greatly appreciated and feel free to ask if you have any questions. I got this idea from… I have no idea actually, but it seemed interesting. I know things seem a little confusing, but they'll clear up quickly… hopefully. Anyway, this chapter was on my computer for some time before I decided to finish it. **


End file.
